The San Diego Padres' ongoing quest for a World Series (or at least a playoff title). "You know that many runners enter a race, but only one of them wins the prize. So run to win! Athletes work hard to win a crown that cannot last, but we do it for a crown that will last forever." 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Padres Sweep!

SWEEP!!! WE SWEPT THE PIRATES!!!

Okay, so it wasn’t that surprising, but it was a lot of fun to get all three games. Especially right before this Giants series, but more on that later.

I got to attend the game yesterday, which was a blast. That was my third game of the year. It was Throwback Thursday, which meant that both the Padres and the Pirates wore their 1978 uniforms. There was a lot of yellow, brown, and stripes. The Padres’ uniforms aren’t my favorite, but the Pirates’ cracked me up. We decided that they looked like a cross between train conductors and prisoners.

The game itself went really well. Jon Garland started, and he was very good. He didn’t allow a hit through the first few innings, but he did allow a few walks and a hit batter early. I looked at the scoreboard and thought, okay, Jon hadn’t given up a hit yet, but he already had gotten himself into some potentially dangerous situations!!

He ended up going six innings, only allowing one hit with four walks and five strikeouts. Amazing performance.

We didn’t score until the bottom of the third. Jon Garland led off the inning with a single. Jerry Hairston sac-bunted him over the second. Then Miguel Tejada doubled him in.

Really, that was all the offense we needed. But in the sixth, Ryan Ludwick gave us a little more.

It was really interesting because Adrian started off the inning with a seemingly routine groundout to short. He hit it, the shortstop picked it up and threw as Adrian slugged down the line. As the ball hit the first baseman’s glove, Adrian was definitely out…but then the ball bounced out of the first baseman’s glove! It was totally unexpected! They gave the error to the shortstop though instead of the first baseman, which I thought was interesting.

Crucial error for the Pirates, though. After taking two balls, Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run homer out into the Padres bullpen! It was soo sweet!!

The relief pitching was amazing!! Luke Gregerson came in after Garland left and got two batters on six pitches. Then he allowed a single, but Joe Thacher came in to get the lefty. Two pitches and his job was done. I’m sooo happy that Thatcher has really turned into such a solid pitcher. I remember the really bad days in 2008 when he literally couldn’t pitch. It’s so nice to know that he’s much, much better than that pitcher he was.

Then Heath Bell came into the game in the top of the ninth. But it was super lame because they didn’t even do his big entrance. No “300” clips. No “Blow Me Away.” Just some random song from the ’70s. It was pathetic!!

But thankfully he was on his game. It took him four batters, but he got his 34th save of the year. And we won 3-0!! :)

So these Throwback Thursdays are new this year and I have to say that I was not very impressed. I’d say that it hindered my ballpark experience more than added to it. First of all, I think it’s cool that they had the old jerseys and the organ player, but I wish they hadn’t cut out almost everything else. For example, all they played was this awful ’70s music when the organ wasn’t playing. They didn’t play any of the player’s walk-up music, and like I said, they totally cut out Heath’s entrance.

I mean, what if Trevor Hoffman had still been here and there was this person who could only come to this game and had never ever seen Trevor Time and was super excited going into the top of the ninth because they were going to see Trevor Time? You can’t just cut out Trevor Time.

Second of all, the in-game host wasn’t even there the entire time, which meant that the entertainment between innings was pathetic! Well, I guess it wasn’t just his fault. They did have all the typical stuff like dot races and guess the attendance and best seat in the house and hat shuffle, but it was a lot more boring.

The organ player was great. I’m not saying anything against his talent or ability. Maybe it was just me, but I really missed all the music that they usually have. Again, I love hearing “Blow Me Away” when Heath comes in. I love hearing the player’s walk-up music. I don’t like hearing all this nasty ’70s stuff.

Now, personally, I don’t like oldies stuff, so maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy the whole retro thing as much. Like I said, it’s cool to have the jerseys for a retro day, but I don’t see why they have to cut out everything else.

The thing that bugged me the most was that I barely got hyped up at all. There were zero scoreboard prompts to get loud. There were barely any clapping thingys. Even with the minimal excitment on the field, I should have been screaming and getting hyper a lot more than I did. When I go to the ballpark, I go watch my boys and get excited! I love screaming and clapping for my boys. I love getting excited. But the only times I got more-than-normally-excited was the home run and when Heath closed the game.

Here’s how bad it was: when Heath got two outs, they didn’t even put up the “ON YOUR FEET” sign!!!!! How wrong is that?!?!?!?!? Man it bugged me sooo much.

So if I had to make a suggestion on how to make Throwback Thursdays better, I would say that there needs to be more interaction. I was extremely mellow the whole game, and you do not want that. You want your fans to be totally alert and into the game. Give us more scoreboard promts. If they have to be, they can be retro promts, but just get us into the game more.

Needless to say, I’m really, really looking forward to the next game I’m going to do, which will hopefully be normal. A Friday night game against the Phillies.

But we’ve got three big games this weekend against the Giants. I’m really thankful that the players themselves are seeing this like any other series, but that doesn’t mean that the fans can’t hype it up. I don’t think it’s going to be season-determining, but I think it would be great to gain a few games on the Giants.

I know that the boys will play their hardest and hopefully will get the better part of the series. After all, we have beaten the Giants seven out of eight times this season. I like our chances.

GO FIRST-PLACE PADRES!!

P.S. You know what I think is really funny? All the headlines today are about how great our new additions are (Miggy and Luddy), and though they both contributed in a big way, they also each grounded into an inning-killing double play. Nice.

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5 Comments

cant say I was too surprised at this as well. You guys shut. us down. only wednesday night did i think we had a chance after our valiant comeback. congrats though! glad you enjoy our unis! we always say that the hats look like a birthday cakehttp://pittpeas.mlblogs.com

Taterz, everything you said is exactly right. I do agree that we shouldn’t have to be prompted, but I think it helps get us going. And yes, I think Throwback Thursday is perfect for people that are bothered by the loud music and lament the old days. I’m a teenager, so you can expect that it’s not really my thing :) I’m into the loud music and stuff. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and all I’m saying here is that it wasn’t for me. Thanks for your comment!!

The whole idea of the throwback thursday is that its a throwback to when baseball fans watched baseball games and knew how to get excited without being prompted. As for Bell’s entrance music, it wasn’t a random song. It was one that worked — “RING MY BELL” Goes with his name. And you are right, we weren’t told when to make noise, but at the right times, we did. We weren’t told “On Your Feet” with 2 outs, but really? should we need to be told? With 2 strikes everyone was loud and on their feet. I realize that it may not be your cup of tea, but thats why there are 76 games that are NOT throwbacks , that an equal number of people will complain that the music is too loud or too obtrusive, that the prompts are silly. To those that enjoy a more simple game, these are for us. And really, fans got excited in the days BEFORE prompts. Why do we have to rely on them or need them now?

Hey Kaybee! I’m a long-time reader of Unfinished Business. I too was at the game yesterday and felt some of the same things as you did; there seemed to be a general lack of urgency and intensity. I understand that it was a day game against the pirates *cough cough*… but it still seemed like the atmosphere was lacking something considering the time of year and the pennent race we’re in. I saw the game with my friend visiting from New York and he commented that PETCO Park had the same feel as the rest of San Diego: laid-back, ‘chill’, and sunshinily complacent. That’s great for the city, but with only a handful of weeks before the playoffs I think our baseball team and stadium need to get amped! Keep up the great writing.

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